Guide to deep breathing

A great way to elicit the relaxation response in your body is to focus on your breathing. During times of stress, we tend to take short, shallow breaths, filling only the upper chest with oxygen. Children, on the other hand, instinctively fill their lungs completely by breathing from their abdomens in what’s called deep, or diaphragmatic, breathing.

Deep breathing has the advantage of not only increasing your oxygen intake but also helping to reduce tension and encouraging a state of relaxed alertness. Practise this technique once a day.

1. Lie on your back with your feet slightly apart.

2. Breathe in slowly through your nose. (This filters and warms the air before it enters your lungs.) Keep the tip of your tongue gently touching the roof of your mouth throughout this exercise. If your nose is congested, inhale through your mouth, slightly opened.

3. Count to four as you inhale, imagining the warm air moving deep into your lungs. Make sure that your abdomen — not your chest — expands as your lungs fill with air. Your shoulders shouldn’t move.

4. Hold the breath as you count to four again, slowly.

5. Exhale slowly with a whoosh of sound, again to the count of four, imagining any tension moving out with the air. Contract your stomach muscles to push all the air out of your lungs. Notice your abdomen fall.

6. Pause a second or two, then repeat. As you become more relaxed you may find that you can increase your counts effortlessly, going up to a count of eight.

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